silvervett

I don’t drive the car much 525 miles since June 21, only driven 2 to 4 times a week. The battery went dead about 5 or 6 times so far. I think the last time I drove it was2 or 3 days ago, I had to hook it up to a charger to get it started. I went to drive it today and it wouldn’t start again. The first couple times it happened I thought I may have left a light on but I am pretty sure I am not. I just got a puppy a few weeks ago and I take him on a poop walk a few times a night, When I pass next to the car the lights come on for a few minutes and turn off but I find it hard to believe the lights coming on two or three dozen times in a few days can drain the battery. Do you think I should leave the key in the house so the lights don’t come on when I walk next to the car at night? I normally wear the key on a chain around my neck so it is always with me.

Any suggestions before I see the dealer, I really don't have the time to take it to a dealer to get it checked.



Update I just took my puppy on a poop walk around the house and the lights did not come on when I walked near the car, I opened the door and tried to start it, the headlights came on but there wasn’t enough power to turn on the ready light. I just drove it a few hours ago and the battery is dead again.

Stormforge

No, that's definitely not normal. It shouldn't drain your battery that fast. My understanding is that you would have a problem with the battery if you didn't drive your car for like over 5-6 weeks (you go away on vacation, or you drive your beater car during the winter time and put your 450h for winter storage).

The only thing I can think of that would drain your battery so quickly - do you have an aftermarket alarm system with a backup siren? If you do, then the culprit is the backup siren - it draws down the battery, and will completely drain it if you don't recharge.

If your answer is no, then I have no clue...it's best to bring your car back to the dealer for warranty troubleshooting. Good luck.

silvervett

Nope no aftermarket anything.

I took my puppy on a poop walk around the house and the lights did not come on when I walked near the car, I opened the door and tried to start it, the headlights came on but there wasn’t enough power to turn on the ready light. I just drove it a few hours ago and the battery is dead again.

A hour or so later I went back out to put a battery tender on to give it a slow overnight charge. The light didn't come on when I walked up to the car, The electronic key would not open the car, I had to use the old fashioned one to open the trunk to get to the battery. I have the battery tender on for a slow overnight charge, but I noticed the terminal was warm when I hooked up the cable as if there was some kind of drain on he battery

PS

Before I sold the NY house and moved to SC I had a house in TX & NY and lived part time in TX and NY. I kept the RX in TX and my Jeep in NY because it was better in the snow. The first time I left the RX in TX I forgot to plug in the battery tender and came back almost two months later and the RX battery was fine. So the RX got more abuse than the GS but didn't have as many problems. I did mess up the RX battery by leaving a Coleman 12 volt cooler plugged in too long, and I left the radio on while working in the garage so I have had battery problems with the RX but at least I knew it was my fault and I know what I did to cause it. It just seems odd that the battery should go down this fast for no apparent reason

PPS

I wonder if the fact the battery is in the trunk is part of the problem. There is a greater distance from the starter, longer cable, more resistance.

Stormforge

No, that shouldn't matter at all. I would definitely take your GS back to the dealer for troubleshooting...I know it's a pain in the butt for you due to the distance to the dealer, but this is something you should get fixed under warranty. Good luck and let us know what the problem is.

silvervett

Thank you, I will post a follow up

dunnojack

the gs battery dies without driving it for a week?
has this been proven?

how f'd up is that? and what about those cars that sit on the dealer lot for several days..... do they have to recharge those every few days?

i really doubt this

silvervett

I doubt this is a problem with all the GS hybrids, but there must be a reason why mine keeps on dieing

Joeb427

iTrader: (1)

There's someone on the RX forum with a new RX 350 with a similar dead battery issue.

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=327008

I learned a tidbit on that thread.
"Lexus recommends that your turn your headlights to the off position and not auto for extended periods of time"

silvervett

Thanks for that info, I have always left them in the auto position in every car I have ever had with the auto feature. I also keep the wipers in the auto position. I put a battery tender on it last night to slow charge it and when I checked it early this morning it still wasn't fully charged

I thought the battery may have been more of an issue with just hybrids

silvervett

Read the link to the thread that joeb427 just posted, it looks like this problem isn't unusual

timeToy

iTrader: (11)

I never had this issue with my '07 GS450h, I had it sit in the garage for 3-4 weeks when we went to Europe and it started right up, no issue at all. I suggest you go see the dealer this is not normal, maybe a bad baterry ?

silvervett

I am driving up to NY in a couple days and have a lot of last minute things to do and not much time for a 60 mile round trip to the dealer. But on the other had it would be a lot more lost time it I get stuck between NY and SC. Last nigh about 15 hours ago I put a Deltran battery tender and it still hasn't reached full charge yet. I am going to let it charge a while longer and then see what happens when I take off the charger. I am leaving Wed or Thur so it does not give me much time if the charger didn't work and I have to go to the dealer.

silvervett

I brought it in this morning, they replaced the battery. I asked the mechanic if he did any tests to see if there was a drain on the battery that caused it to fail. He told me that they usually just replace the battery without doing a test. He said in most cases it just happens when a car is left sitting on the lot for a long time waiting to be sold. I don’t like that they didn’t check to see if there was a reason for the dead battery, I and driving up to NY soon and hope I don’t have a problem but at least I am starting off with a fresh battery. I always carry, jumper cables, a plug in battery charger in my trunk, I have been also carring a portable battery jumper in my trunk but it is a few years old so I an picking up another one tomorrow.

Stormforge

Hopefully your dead battery problem is solved. Let us know how things go.